September Aftermath!

[DallasSRT4]

[red84vette]

Tell me more....
What did you consider "hard;" and can you describe it as just being difficult, or classify it as a NFM (Not Fun Maneuver).

I'm looking for positive feedback for characteristics for the next course design.

I work with the theory that Auto-X is not about speeding down a straight (that would NHRA) and sweeping through a large corner (that would be NASCAR).  Rule of thumb is more than 15 and less than 45 inputs for a good course.

I've noticed that Lance's Corvette on slicks was within a second of the usual crowd of Civics at the top of the cumulative times; and that the entire field was within a 10-second window.  And I was a little further down the field than I usually am, so it definitely didn't favor me. [:-cry]

Many of the maneuvers are stolen from Roger Johnson's and others' courses at SCCA Regional and National  Events that I "overlayed" on the Monte Carlo Course.[:-eyebrows]

So post your waah's as well as your yay's; and why and include a corrective suggestion. Please include your car and class so I can make sure that future events are equal.

Thanks again, Mike

[STS-129]

I had a great time.

My only suggestion for next time: no rain. :p

[Joy S2000]

Dallas,
I don't care what you run in. It is just more fun to give you sh*t than anything else.  I hope you can make it to the next event.  See ya!!

Renae

[JohnB]

I wouldn't classify the course as hard - I thought it was a nice distinctive design with some landmark maneuvers that were not a "memory test".  I did think it was quite cramped.  I have run on a RJ course and they are tons of fun -  not saying yours are not. And although I don't claim to know anything about course design, the RJ courses you speak of are run on lots much much bigger than the one we run on and you drive them FAST.  You might even say the alamodome lot is miniature lot comparatively speaking.  It might be interesting to hear what he would recommend for a lot of the size we run.

After yesterday, what with all the gravel and standing water on the course, I now _officially_ hate to autox in the rain and that has nothing to do with course design.

[DallasSRT4]

Hehehe, I'll be at the next one, Where ever it might be but, the part that was difficult was the ending, small s into a hard 100 degree right back to a left over finish, I never went threw it nicely.

[red84vette]

You're right about our lot, John, it's not even 1/4 the size of some of the RJ courses -- even before we deduct 50 - 75' from the curbs for safety issues.  Those larger turns have radii of several hundred feet where I can place one about 60' at the max, and it would take half of the lot.  So, rather than speed, we can focus on finding the right mix of low-speed maneuvers  and some acceleration to make it fun.

Out lot is 800 x 360, roughly.  Take away 125' (75' spectator/pit side, 50' from the opposite curb, and 50' from both the street side and train track side , and that area becomes 675 x 260.  The poles on the train tracks end suck up another 40' (we can't run between them) making it 675 x 220.  To achieve the 3960-foot mark (3/4 mile) we'd have to traverse back and forth 6 times.  Then how would one account for 200-feet for runoff, 75-150' between vehicle paths, 16 - 30' gates, etc. And then launch a car every 30 seconds or so.

Next year, as we gain experience, we'll get some good and fast courses.  I have some ideas.

And I hated the rain, too.

[D3MON187GS-R]

Personally i LOVED the rain, i thought it was a really cool obstacle and made for some fun slides , the track was AWESOME too, absolutely loved it and i cant wait till next time.

On a side not im doing some upgrading right now, and am ordering some Brembo blank rotors, with Axxis Metal Master pads for 189 shipped also, against the wishes of some of the veterans, I MUST have Racing Hart C5s for my integra.  They are just too sexy of a rim to not get, and i cant find a single rim i like as much (which even though they are cast they are Racing Harts, so i dont think that matters as much as most rims).  One problem is choosing tires.  Ive looked at a lot of reviews and it seems like the Yokohama AVS ES100 is an AWESOME tire at a unbelievable price, but 40 buks more and i could get the Parada Spec-2s with the coolest tread design EVAR(better dry traction, less wet traction).  So i dont know waht tire i should get, what tires do you guys recommend that are $95 and cheaper?  THANX!

[Vigo]

well if you are considering the wet tracion of the parada2 as ok, you might as well just get azenis.  more grip for less money, and probably equal wet traction.


anyway, the only NFM i would say that was on that course was the 90* left  box, just because if you messed up u were in trouble, and i thought it was a little too tight.

the 150* or whatever it was turn right before the finish was an excercise in degrees of grinding vs. speed,  but i didnt mind so much because it was pretty open if i went wide.

overall i thought it was awesome.  i think the fates on the back straight i guess were too easy. even tho they were moved it still ended up being almost a straight shot, and i would have been fine with them being even farther offset from each other.


good fun and very challenging.  also very frustrating for me.   i have to say it was awesome to see Gerno cranking out 46's in his Passat wagon, even keeping up with kevin on azenis.  iirc  gerno has 195/65r15s on the front... eesh.   asked him what tires he had that were gripping so well on the front. Potenza 950.    MY problem was having way too little traction on the front, and too much on the back. i messed with the pressure but couldnt fix it.  the more i thought about, the more i went DOH, seeing as how the avenger has two mismatched tires on the front, one of which is purported to be decent, and one of which is some pepboys special.  on the back??  practically new potenzas.  GRRR

considering 215/60r16 kumho kh11s in a few months.


anyway good fun, looking forward to borrowing my gf's car again some months next year, and finally doing some mods to mine.

[Cone Killer]

The fast pax time of the day and top sts guy for last Sunday runs Falken Azenis (oh wait...that be me) I's stay away from anything else. And, if you get the 15 size (205/50 that fits tight on a 15x7 rim) it will only cost you $59 + shipping.

[GottaMiata]

Have to give Big Thanks to Mike for his course design, I enjoyed it all. It would be fun to run this same course in the dry & compare. I had no problems with the design and would enjoy more like it. Keep up the good work Mike (maybe we will be able to find you a larger lot for next year)

[red84vette]

I agree that Massenet (the lefty) turned out to be more painful than on paper.  I'd probably blow it out to 30' wide instead of the 20' that it went into. An additional 10' radius proabaly adds enough mph amd less wheel turn.

The straight I'll keep the same.

The last section, I'll change so that you'll slow down, turn left and be able to acclerate all the way to the end.

If we don't run on Mother's Day next year, I'd be happy to plot it out again.

What you guys really need to do is to try to stop a 3500-lb car.  My favorite part was stomping on the brakes (after a gratifying stomp on the gas) at the end of the tunnel straight while trying to make the slalom and the last chute -- on my best run, the car waggled all the way through and I came out sideways and pointed in the right direction --[:-bigeyes2]

[Vigo]

ive heard that the 15 inch azeni is closer to a 225 than a 205..  but i was still planning on putting them on a 6.0 or 6.5 inch rim if i got them.. bad idea/impossible?

[VWill]

I had a great time.  I had a tough time as well.  I felt like I just couldn't get any traction.  The hardest part for me was the last section.  I never could get ahold of that one.  I thought the course design was great.  It looked as if a lot of hard work was put into it.

[Cone Killer]

quote:Originally posted by Vigo

ive heard that the 15 inch azeni is closer to a 225 than a 205..  but i was still planning on putting them on a 6.0 or 6.5 inch rim if i got them.. bad idea/impossible?

I did say the 205 fit tight on the 7 inch wide rim, as in a perfect fit like a normal 215 or 225 wide tire. And you can still fit them on a 6 inch wide wheel but the tire becomes slightly rounded and you might lose some comtact patch, but I've seen it done many times.